Friday, February 06, 2009

Seiyuu blogs have a number of common subjects. Food is the most common: sushi, curry, desserts, coffee, beer, cookies, etc., etc.

Of course, publicizing new work is the whole point of the exercise, so that's there, too. But trips to the hairdresser, and new outfits also loom large.

However, a very common subject for blog posts is new nails.

Seiyuu often seem to be showing us photos of their new nails. Search Google images for ネイル (the Japanese for "nails") and you'll see many different styles. Or check this blog of a Japanese nail salon that has served at least one seiyuu.

Just today, Koshimizu Ami (below, left) and Sanpei Yuuko both posted pics of their new nails. Now, tell me they don't live together, lol. At least they help each other figure out how to keep up the posting rate on their blogs. Ami says she made one finger brown like the chocolate Japanese girls give on Valentine's Day. I like Yuuko's shorter nails.

Anyway, here is a wall of images of the nails of various seiyuu that I happen to have found in their blogs. Mouseover to find out whose nails are whose:

The top new anime of the season, in terms of popularity on the 2channel forums in Japan, are Sora wo Kakeru Shoujo first, followed by Chrome-shelled Regios, White Album, Fresh Precure, and Maria Holic, with Rideback and Kurokami not far behind.

Kurokami is a special case, since it is receiving a lot of negative posts, but also has a whole separate thread talking about its Korean connections, often in that chauvinist Japanese way. The manga is by two Koreans.

Those are just the new shows. Shows getting second seasons are hard to judge, since their threads continue from previous seasons, but Minami-ke, Clannad and Marimite have the most threads. However, the next in line, Druaga no Tou is clearly extremely popular for a show with only one previous season.As for shows continuing from the fall season, the top shows are Gundam00, Gintama, the surprising Toradora, and the only somewhat less surprising To Aru Majutsu no Index. Of course, far in front at the very top of the list is the family favorite Sazae-san.

In the lists that follow, the number is the number of the current thread. Each completed thread is 1000 posts.

As usual, I have to give the caveat that TV ratings would put the shows in quite a different order, since the otakus who post on 2channel are not the general audience. Of all the shows mentioned here, only Sazae-san (#1), Fresh Precure (#5), and Major (#6) are in the top ten anime on TV.

Hashihime

The "Hashihime" or "Bridge Princesses," are characters in the novel The Tale of Genji (Genji Monogatari 源氏物語）. They are daughters of a disgraced prince, living alone with him in a small house at Uji, outside Kyoto. They are important characters in the last ten chapters of the novel.

The Genji can be considered the first real novel in the history of the world. It was written around 1000 AD by a Japanese court lady known as Lady Murasaki, or Murasaki Shikibu.

I think contemporary Japanese literature, including anime and manga, continues to preserve aspects of the Genji, among them sensitive psychological observation, a general passion for romance, and romantic interest in young girls. The main hero of the thousand-page novel, Prince Genji, had a number of present and former girlfriends living in his palace, and basically abducted his principal wife Murasaki when she was ten, marrying her when she was around 15.

notes

-- all Japanese names are written in Japanese order: surname first, given name second-- I claim no copyright on anything in this blog, unless otherwise stated